Monday, November 25, 2013

Title: Forgive Me, Leonard PeacockAuthor: Mattew QuickTeen Reviewer: Julia DenaroRating: 4.5/5 Stars This book is about Leonard Peacock's 18th birthday, the day he will kill his ex-best-friend Asher
Beal and himself. The story tells of Leonard’s four friends. To each one,
Leonard gives a pink-wrapped present containing something to remember him by.
After he gives out his last gift, he plans to end his life.This
book is a masterpiece, written in a way that makes the reader think about
everyday events and issues differently. This book beautifully tells a story of
a teenager’s horrible life changed for the better. I
would recommend this book to 10th graders and on because of the language and
certain actions. I
would give this book a 4 ½ out of 5 for the excellent detail and great plot.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Being
Henry David by Cal Armistead tells the story of a teenage boy who wakes up in
Penn station having no idea who he is. All he has with him is a copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau. He
adopts the philosophy of the book and uses is to guide him on his journey to
rediscovering himself, and confronting the dark past behind him that he won’t
let himself remember.

The beginning of the novel is
promising, at least as far as the plot goes, as everything about the main
character is a mystery. However, the writing style immediately got old for me
when I discovered that the sentence fragments are not just a way to convey
the chaos and confusion going on in the protagonist’s mind as he awakes for the
first time, but the way that the entire book is written. With unimpressive
prose, the protagonist, who is dubbed “Hank” by a random street rat he meets in
a bathroom, sets out on his journey of bad decision making and highly
unrealistic, half-though-out scenarios.

The most annoying part of the book,
for me, is that new mysterious and secrets are constantly introduced whose
solutions are highly anticipated but rarely satisfactory. The entire plot
savors of anti-climax. The utter dullness of the conflicts is mostly due to the
setting where most of the story takes place: Concord, MA,
a snobby suburban tow where everyone Hank meets is instantly friendly and
accommodating despite knowing nothing about him. I find this an odd direction
for the author to take the plot, even though this is the town that Thoreau is
from. Here, although he has no recollection of his former
life, Hank lives a basically normal life with a normal girlfriend and normal
problems, with the exception of the unrealistic amount of coincidental meetings
with former friends and foes, who always appear just at the right time.

On top of all this, the characterization
is weak. We learn nothing about our main character except that he has a healthy
interest in girls and athletic and musical skills. Likewise, each secondary
character is assigned a few traits that are assigned to some societal
stereotype. There is very little depth. The only glimmer if literary merit in
the novel is its lesson of transcendentalism that can be taught to the reader
who knows nothing about this movement in literature.

Overall, I found Being Henry David to be extremely light reading, with an unrealistic
plot and underdeveloped, shallow characterization. The novel leaves much to be
desired, like more interesting “pieces to the puzzle” of the many mysteries
that arise, and a more respectable and likable protagonist. If you’re into
books about high school, boyfriend/girlfriend drama and cutesy romance, then
you’d probably like this book.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

In My Name is Parvana, Deborah Ellis tells
a powerful story about a teenage girl in Afghanistan who never gives up her
hopes and dreams for her future even as conditions in the war-torn nation make
life more and more difficult and dangerous for her family. An average girl
struggling with her own emotions like any other teenager, Parvana faces
problems that most Americans her age could not imagine – being accused of
terrorism and imprisoned by foreign troops. The events that she recalls that
led up to her imprisonment, her family working to create a school for girls
much to the disapproval of the public, keep her mind occupied and invulnerable
to the American soldiers’ threats. The love that binds her family and friends
together against every danger gives her the strength to keep her head and the willpower
to withhold information from the foreign troops.

My Name is Parvana is real,
heart-wrenching, and compelling. Before reading this book, I, like most
Americans, had a vague idea of what is going on overseas in Afghanistan,
and had become numb and desensitized to the occasional report of another
roadside bombing there, or a group of children being shot by the Taliban. What
we rarely, if ever, hear about are the emaciated children in refugee camps, the
young girls forced into marriages with older men, the activists who are
assassinated for trying to make a better life for women – or the senseless
violence and damage done by our own American troops. My Name is Parvana made me aware of these tragedies. The strength
with which Parvana faces all of these dangers is absolutely inspiring, and
empowering to all young girls and women. Deborah Ellis, with simplistic yet
powerful prose, conveys a message that all American teenagers should hear –
that there are people their age who have to break laws to get themselves an
education, to feed their family, and even to dress and speak the way they want
to.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Seraphina Dombegh lives in a world of tense peace between
humans and dragons. The dragons of her world are shape shifters but despite
their ability to communicate with humans, they are looked down upon. Her
kingdom of Goredd is under a lot of pressure as the 40th anniversary
of the peace treaty between humans and dragons approaches. This time, Seraphina
witnesses it firsthand as a new member of the court, the musician’s assistant.
She finds herself in a lot of drama in Castle Orison as a member of the Royal
Family has just been found dead in the woods. The way he died is mysteriously
similar to the way that dragons eat humans, which only worsens the situations
of the dragons living in their human forms in Goredd. Seraphina is interested
in trying to solve the crime and is paired up with the Captain of the Queen’s
Guard, Prince Lucian Kiggs. Kiggs is dangerously observant, which becomes a
problem for Seraphina, as she has secrets of her own to hide. Kiggs and
Seraphina become friends, but soon he starts to question her past and her
teacher, the dragon Orma. As secrets unravel, feelings get hurt and people get
in trouble. Seraphina has to deal with a lot of overwhelming responsibilities
that her job requires, as well as help out Kiggs, and keep up her own mental
health. When the leader of the dragons, Ardmagar Comonot, finally visits Goredd
for the 40th anniversary, it is questionable whether or not he is actually
safe. Seraphina works to protect herself, the ones she love, and her kingdom’s
royals as she tries to solve the Prince’s death.

This book was classified as fantasy, but I think it also
had an element of mystery. I liked the secret side of this book and that it
kept you guessing until the end about some things. I also liked the
relationship between Seraphina and Kiggs, which was a really good friendship. I
liked that they knew their boundaries, since Kiggs is engaged to his cousin,
Princess Glisselda. I think they work so well together because they are not
afraid to just say what they are thinking. I loved all of the supporting roles
in this book, such as Lars, Seraphina’s father, and Abdo. I think they really
added another layer of depth to the book and complemented the major roles well.
Glisselda surprised me with her poise because at first she seemed like just another
glamorous Princess. However, she turned out to be very mature in the end and I
liked her. Seraphina was a really enjoyable main character and was relatable,
despite the fact that she is clearly different. I must admit that when reading
this book, the author goes right into using the idioms and slang language of
the Goreddis, so it was a little hard to understand at first. Once I got into
the swing of things and noticed the helpful dictionary at the back, I was fine
though. I would not suggest this book to anyone who can’t handle a little bit
of dragons, kings, and dueling, because you can find all of these in here. Although,
I think this book surprised me with how good it is and I would recommend it to
most people! It’s not a short book, but it is definitely worth the time!

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

The Namesake, by Stephen Parlato, is the story of a
teenager, Evan Galloway, whose father has just committed suicide. Evan is
an extremely gifted student and artist, and everyone expects the best of
him. Wanting to be able to understand why his father ended his life, he
tries to find the answers. But as he does this he is opposed by a number of different
people who try to stop him from getting to the truth of his father's death, and
he has his own social life, or lack thereof, to worry about as well. Will Evan
solve the mystery of his father's murder and be able to heal from it, or will
he never know the full story and have to live with that fact?

This book was an interesting read for me. At first I was
suprised at the book's bluntness and did not think that it depicted a teenage
boy's life very well. But then, about in the middle of the book, I realized that
this is what life is like for someone his age. It can be difficult and confusing.
Told from Evan's point of view and from his mind's eye, the book does a great
job of thinking like a teenage boy would, though at times it seems a bit
random. One thing I did not like about the writing was that on multiple
occasions, when the book begins a new section, it starts off after something
important happened, then jumps back to what actually happened. This was a bit
frustrating, but I got somewhat used to it. Also, the book still seems a bit
unrealistic in some ways, but very realistic in others. Despite these
shortcomings and even though I did not enjoy the book as a whole, it had a lot
of plot twists and fantastic character development, making the book very exciting
and enjoyable in spots. Because I found some parts frustrating, I would not read it again, but I am sure a lot of people will enjoy it. I rate this book a 4
out of 5.